Fight Them Soft
by TheLastGhost
Summary: Ten years locked up behind bars in a catatonic state in the asylum. Then came the forgetting of scorching fire and burning hell at Dr. Bumby's. Follow Alice as she tries to save herself and Wonderland from destruction. My adaptation of the games. Rated M for blood, death, violence and a possible reference to sexual themes. Discontinued for now! Being Rewritten!
1. Aphelion

**Greetings to everyone who decided to click on the title of my story and read my first and hopefully not so badly written fiction of Alice in Wonderland. I'm not yet entirely sure as to where this story will end up going, but it'll mostly focus on the end of American McGee's Alice and Alice Madness Returns and the time in between, perhaps even the time after Madness Returns. Having played both the games, read the book a trillion times and watched the Tim Burton movie, I am rather excited at writing this as I've always had a strong love for Alice, and now especially for the horror version of both games.**

**Anyway, enough ranting. All the characters from the games will be returning in this fiction as well as characters from the book and most possibly from my own imagination. It will focus mostly on Alice and her adventures in Wonderland, but also on her live in London and Rutledge Asylum. This is just a preview but in the next chapters there will be several appearances of characters from Alice and of course Alice herself will be ever present, and I hope I'll be able to keep them in character, please tell me if I need to change several things in that aspect. As for the rating, taking in consideration my own character there will most certainly be blood, gore and a chance at sexual references, something I find rather fitting in the Alice Madness Returns game. For anyone who finds that disturbing, if there is a sexual reference or situation in a chapter there'll always be a warning before the start of the chapter. Otherwise it would be wise to just skip this story and move on to one with a lower rating or without sexual themes, especially if you're not of age.**

**Review would be very nice as I would like to know if there's anything I did right or wrong but it's not a necessity. Flames however are something way less appreciated and helpful. I have no idea when I'll update again but I'll try not to take too long.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own American McGee's Alice, Alice Madness Returns, Alice in Wonderland or any other characters appearing in this story aside from my own. The book and the characters are copyright to Lewis Carroll. The poems used in this story are not mine if not stated otherwise. This fan fiction itself is copyright to me. The poem in the beginning is part of a poem written by Andrew Lang.**

**Let's open the book and start indulging ourselves in the beautiful yet scary place called Wonderland.**

* * *

_One gift the fairies gave me_

_Three they commonly bestowed of yore:_

_The love of books, the golden key_

_That opens the enchanted door_

Teacups were scattered upon a table which looked as if it could fall over any minute. The tablecloth was a dirty grey colour which should have been a beautiful light pink if not for the many smudges and stains from tea and the crumbs from the cakes and cookies that were scattered across the table. Several chairs were neatly set in a row while other chairs were scattered all across the ground, looking as if they had been attacked by a horde of cats and rats. There were even some chairs floating through the sky, amongst many other things that were floating around the table. At the head of the table was a big and very old tree and from its branches hung a big old chair in chains. It was a very beautiful chair and only one person was allowed to sit in it. But now it was empty, like everything else. Candles were unlit and teacups were without any tea, though the kettle was filled to the brim with tea, cold tea to be precise. The cakes and cookies were dry and stale. It looked as if ages had passed since anyone had been here, but the chair was still as beautiful and clean as ever, not even a speck of dust soiled the beautiful dark wood and soft red pillows. Butterflies were embroidered on the cushions and beautiful flowers were carved into the wood of the chair. If you looked closely enough you could almost see the butterflies move, their wings moving up and down, trying to take to the sky. The flowers and vines carved into the wood grew and grew until they had covered the entire chair, but that only happened if you looked really close.

The sky continued to shift, colours changed every second, every minute. Nothing was ever the same as it was the second before. Nothing but the inhabitants remained the same, on the outside at least. But you'd have to find them first, or let them find you. They could be anywhere, hiding, running. Moving away from the tea and the greasy table to the forests surrounding it, locked in an eternal autumn. Green grass and trees with red and golden leaves. Mosses in all kind of colours grew on the rocks and trees. Small streams flowed through the uneven and rocky landscape. Sometimes the ground just went straight down and sometimes it just went up into the sky, making it difficult to find your way through this beautiful forest. The sky went from yellow to blue and then to purple and after that to red, and so on. Toys and things from all kind of games floated through the sky, books of all kinds were hanging from branches and were lying on the floor. It looked as if someone had been just reading several books or playing games yet there was absolutely no one. Not even little critters in the grass nor birds on the branches of the trees. There was no wind blowing through the trees but the leaves danced nonetheless. Whispers and strange sounds floated through the air. Oh so beautiful and strange, yet so scary and ominous.

She felt as if she had been here before. Everything seemed so familiar yet so new at the same time. Her feet moved over the grass, or was she floating through the air? The tea, that stale tea in the kettle was her favourite white tea. The cookies were the ones she liked the best, with chocolate chips. The recipe for the cake she knew inside and out, layered chocolate cake with cream and grated chocolate chips in the white frosting. Put a strawberry on top with some cream and it's oh so delicious. Did her feet just touch the leaves on the top of the trees or was that just her imagination? Her hair floated around her face and her bangs tickled her cheeks. Laughter escaped her lips and she watched the words that came from her mouth float down to the ground where it met the water. Down they flowed, along the stream. Her laughter was soon joined by many others. Soon she wasn't floating through the sky alone, or was she walking on the ground? Soft fur touched her shoulder and she instantly knew who it was. After all, they had known each other for so long that even with her eyes closed she could point him out in a big crowd. The feeling he gave her was unlike any other, but then again, he was a talking cat after all and who had a talking cat for a friend? A tail moved across her nose and a weight appeared on her shoulders. He purred into her ear softly as her hand moved up to scratch behind his ear. Next to her, somewhat lower than her waist a sound was heard.

Tick, tock, tick tock.

That sound told her that they were just on time. Just in time for the tea party under the tree. Or was it atop the trees? Hurried sounds of hopping told her that they had to hurry just slightly, just because he hated being late. Afraid that something might go wrong, though that never happened. Sometime she wondered if he was just a little paranoid, just a little. One of her hands went to touch his soft and furry ears, hoping to calm him down just slightly for they won't be late, they never are. He hopped slower and slower, closing his pocket watch before he slipped it in his waistcoat. He was such a cute and funny little rabbit. A grin against her ear told her that Cheshire found Mr. White just as funny as she did. The light of the sunset hitting their faces, or was the sun rising? She just couldn't see it any more.

Where are the trees, where is the ground, with the little streams and all the books she loved to read on a warm and soft day? Where is the sky, the fluffy clouds in all kinds of shapes and forms, the ever changing colours, where has it all gone? The soft fur she felt between her finger just moments ago was gone, the weight of her shoulders had lifted, had disappeared. Mr. White and Cheshire had vanished into thin air, though the fact that Cheshire was gone didn't surprise her as he came and went as he pleases, but Mr. White doesn't have the ability to vanish into thin air. Had she always been this alone? She was running, always running from something she couldn't see in the darkness, a foul breath. There was nothing beneath her feet, nor the ground nor the air. She didn't feel anything except for a sharp pain on her back. Her hair floated around her face and her bangs tickled her cheeks. Bubbles escaped her lips and she watched the air that just came from her mouth rise up to the surface. The bubbles were soon joined by many others as the air was forced from her lungs and was replaced with water. Her hands moved through the water in a desperate try to reach for the surface below her, but no matter how hard she moved her arms and legs she didn't get any closer to the light. Instead it faded away in the distance while she sank higher and higher towards the darkness.

Something slick and slimy touched her shoulders and she felt nothing else but overpowering fear taking over her body. Sharp talons appeared as the slimy substance moved from her shoulders towards her neck and ears. Blood flowed freely from her body when the talons cut into her shoulders painfully. She didn't dare look behind her in fear of seeing something she rather not want to see. Chains with spikes twisted around her legs and pierced through her skin, pulling her up towards the darkness. Hands clawed at her feet and legs, blunt nails digging into her calves. In that moment she made the mistake to look down, down towards her feet, down into the darkness. Air she didn't know she had left in her lungs left her mouth in a silent scream, drowned outby the water surrounding her. Mouths gaped at her in equally silent screams but their words still reached her ears and invaded her mind. Their dead and soulless eyes stared up at her while tears of blood and something black mingled in with the water. Hands and tentacles holding her legs so tight it felt as they would rip them off her body. Talons suddenly caressed her cheeks before closing over her eyes when the slimy thing which had touching her neck and ear moved over her cheeks towards her blue lips. Disgusted by the movement she jammed her jaws shut but it didn't stop the things from violently biting her lips until they bled. Something akin to lips moved over her own, perhaps to soothe the pain or just to disgust her, in which is most certainly succeeded, then over her cheeks towards her ear. Whispers turned into screams yet she could still hear a dark and deep voice whispering small nothings to her as she rose further up towards the devouring darkness.

Or was she sinking instead?

_'Come with us, up and down with us…'_

_'Together, together always.'_

_'Why did you leave us?'_

_'HOW COULD YOU LEAVE US?'_

_'Please.. stay with us.'_

_'SAVE US ALICE..!  
_

'_Who stole my tarts?'_

'_Oh dear, oh dear! You will be too late if you don't hurry!'_

'_It's nice to have you back, even though you're so always late for my unbirthday. I have a fine Darjeeling this time so come 'ere.'_

'_Alice…welcome back to your wonderland.'_


	2. Sound Of Forgetting

_**I noticed that my story has quite the number of hits, at least, in my opinion it has. There were even several people who read it twice. Does that mean that either the title is interesting, or the summary or perhaps because the first chapter wasn't as bad as I thought it was? Either way, I'm happy because there have been almost 40 readers already!  
**_

_**A Thank You for everyone taking the time to read this!  
**_

* * *

_**Chapter two: Sound Of Forgetting**  
_

_Mute on a stretcher, with her head curiously bandaged, Alice seems to cling precariously to life. Her burns have healed remarkably in the year since the fire, but she languishes in a deep trance-like dementia. It's as if the blaze consumed her senses wholesale. Deaf, dumb and blind to all stimulation, she's a fair match for the infirmary's gloom._

_The 24__th__ of October 1874_

_As a doctor, I have done everything I can think of. Treatments, remedies, disciplines and pleasures and nothing made a difference in her behavior. She will only talk when she wants to and only talk about what she wants. Sometimes she even talks to us by using poems or drawings of the world called Wonderland. Alice is seemingly a very willful girl and nothing I say makes any difference._

_Recently though, she has frequently muttered "Off with her head" and other more cruel sentences. And I presume she's talking about the Red Queen. The few conversations we had were about Wonderland, and I find myself entirely immersed with the fantastic tales of that place. I actually find myself waiting for the day when she claims victory over the Red Queen and her minions. Perhaps she'll regain a sense of sanity and be balanced enough to leave this place._

_Sometimes she appears to be so close, but at other times I'm certain it'll never happen and she'll spend the rest of her life housed behind Rutledge's barred windows and dirty walls... with me._

_What conflicts me the most, is that I feel impotent and worthless because there's nothing I can do to cure her. I feel a pang of jealousy at the thought that there are others out there who could help her further while I could not. In these 10 years with us here at Rutledge I hardly managed to do anything which posed as a cure for her._

_I do take some comfort in the guess that the other therapies could take her outside Rutledge and perhaps even more. But that is only possible if the girl is more stable. _

Letting the pen drop from his hand onto his desk he re-read what he had just written. This was supposed to be a record of Alice's progress and not of his own troubles. It did ease the uneasiness within his own heart concerning his young patient that had resided within the asylum for nearly ten years. Dr. Wilson found himself quite taken with his young patient but feared that she would never be balanced enough to live outside these walls.

Rutledge asylum was a dark and haunting place were even the staff was as mad as a hatter, as Alice often put it. Even the name itself was as dark as the place itself, meaning "red pool" in old Anglican. Rutledge was indeed a place where blood was one of the most present colours to be found, be it on the floor, the walls or even sometimes the ceiling. The building itself was built just outside London, England. Filled to the brim with mad and raving patients where the nights were especially scary. Screams and moans filled the hallways which even the best liquor couldn't drown out. And there was also the ghost story of patients disappearing in the middle of the night, taken away by some secret force. Deaths were rather common as well, suicides even more so even with all the precautions. Treatments like electro-shock therapy, trepanning and bloodletting using leeches happened every day. With its five floors and many rooms for patients it was always filled to the brim and there was a waiting list for patients waiting to be admitted.

Dr. Wilson had worked in this field for years and started working in the Rutledge asylum just five years prior to the arrival of Alice. He had now become completely used to the screams and the deaths of patients and staff. The dark corridors no longer frightened him nor did the screams haunt him in his sleep anymore. Strangely though, the thing which scared him the most was Alice and her stories of Wonderland. When she speaks to him of her adventures in Wonderland she appears to be powerful and even aggressively assertive while the Alice in the asylum in massively passive and it is rather difficult to connect her with the person she describes in her dreams. How she fights with her knife and other weapons give him the impression of a trained fighter who, with her selfless acts of courage, turns into a hero. They do not seem as mere "delusions of grandeur" nor is it simple madness. In her head, an entirely different world apart from this one existed with its own set of characters and much more. That's what scared him. It wasn't just a simple raving from a person who, as seen in her records, was simply too mad and unstable aside from being mostly catatonic. This was something much more and he couldn't find out what. The drawings and poems she used to converse with him and Nurse D were equally disturbing to him, showing things which were impossible in this world, but seemingly possible in Wonderland.

Alice had fallen back into her catatonic state and when awake she only spoke about the Red Queen and a beast called the Jabberwocky. She appeared to be quite mad at the both of them for her voice had a very angry tone to it. Little did Dr. Wilson know that Alice was in Wonderland right now, fighting against the Jabberwocky together with her allies and was trying to collect the last piece for the eyestaff, the eye of the Jabberwocky.

…

A roar of pain and the sound of ripping flesh echoed through the air as the left eye of the Jabberwocky was ripped from its socket by the Gryphon. Blood gushed over his scales and metal parts as he continued to growl in pain while Alice and her friends pieced the eyestaff together, completing it.

"I will kill you! All of you!" the Jabberwocky roared.

"Give me your worst! I'll destroy you and the Red Bitch! You won't be able to kill me nor will you destroy Wonderland!" Alice roared back, turning her burning glance upwards to his one remaining right eye.

Though obviously in pain, the Jabberwocky still managed to look slightly smug when he said; _"Even if you manage to destroy us, will you be able to overcome your guilt? How you __**KILLED**__ your family, left them to __**DIE **__, roasting in an infernal hell of incredible horror?"_

The Jabberwocky knew his words hit Alice hard as he saw her flinch and drop to her knees before he took off, flying towards the castle of the Red Queen in the distance, roaring with laughter along the way.

...

_1__st__ of November 1874_

_Alice seems to have fallen back into her catatonic state. Even now she still mutters about the Queen and the Jabberwock, but also about a gryphon and some sort of staff with an eye. We literally have to force her mouth open in order for her to eat, but in comparison to the years before now it seems to be a lot easier, almost as if she welcomes the food even though she is asleep or unresponsive. _

_It has now been 69 days since she we had a real and relatively normal conversation, and I find myself hoping for her victory over the Red Queen and this Jabberwocky even more now. In the last conversation we had he spoke of a place called the Fungiferous Forest. It's a place filled with mushrooms the size of large trees, fungus and foliage that grabs those who trample it, cavernous wastes filled with creatures who are as disturbed as any I've ever heard of. I recall the drawing she drew once when she was in one of her creative moods, the mushrooms were rather large indeed. _

_It seems, from what I can make out of the gibberish she mostly speaks, that the gryphon fought against the Jabberwocky and died in the progress but before that happened he gave the eye of the Jabberwock to Alice as to complete the eyestaff. Now all she has to do is defeat the Red Queen, and I find myself quite happy now that she is apparently almost at the end of her journey inside Wonderland. _

_She does sleep more restless lately, often moves in her sleep and seems to be in great pain for she sometimes screams so loud while there is no sign of external injury nor external as we decided, Nurse D and I, to have her examined. I think it's because she's reaching the end of her journey and is starting to face her guilt and other emotions which she steadfastly avoided the last nine years. I also noticed a cat meowing at her window several times now. I often shooed it away but it keeps coming back. A small white cat, slightly mangy and thin. Perhaps it feels Alice's distress while she's asleep. _

Putting his pen back in his pocket Dr. Wilson closed his casebook before laying it down on the small table. He and Nurse D had decided, since Alice had troubling dreams, to stay and wake in her room for a few hours every night, in just two hours Nurse D would come to relieve him of this duty and take his place in the chair in the other corner of the small room. He looked over to the other corner to observe the young girl sleeping strapped against her bed with leather restrains while thunder and wind were waging a war on the world outside. The small candle on the table besides his chair gave him enough light to write another part in his casebook but it was now just a small light of comfort.

A sudden knock at the door drew his attention away from his patient. Raising from his seat, he watched Nurse D come in quietly.

"I know there's still two hours before I take the watch, but the patients were rather calm this evening so I came in early, do you mind Dr. Wilson?" Nurse D whispered as she quietly closed the door.

"I do not mind at all Nurse D. It's rather nice to have a little bit of company on such a night as this." Was the answer Dr Wilson whispered back against one of his most trusted nurses on this case.

Nothing more was said between the two as Dr. Wilson sat down on his seat again while Nurse D kept standing in front of the door, keeping watch over the restlessly sleeping Alice like himself. His mind wandered through the memories he had of Alice and how he had gotten used to her sudden mood swings or outbursts, how she would strongly refuse to do anything unless she herself wanted to do it. All of it had gotten so usual even though there was nothing usual about her case. Lightning lighted up the entire room and the sound of the wind howling was still ever present when he heard a sound coming from Alice. The sound from Alice drew his attention to her face, which had contorted into a painful expression. More huffs and soft painful moans left her pale chapped lips as her head started to twist and turn while her hands started tearing at the sheets. Alice started to struggle against her bindings which were starting to cut into the skin of her arms after a few seconds. Dr Wilson immediately walked over to her bedside and pressed his hand against her sweaty and cold forehead in a wasted attempt to calm his little patient.

When his fingertips met her skin a scream filled with sorrow and pain filled the small dirty room.

…

Alice held her head in her hands as shivers raked through her thin body. The words of the Jabberwocky ringing through her head while the memories flooded her mind. The screams, the cries from her parents rung loudly in her ears. The stench of burning bodies hit her nostrils as she fell back into her memories of that fateful night.

_On her bed, Alice was sleeping soundly with her toy rabbit in her small arms. Within her dream, there were her friends from Wonderland and she dreamt of a tea party hosted by the Mad Hatter, before everything had gone to hell and he was just a little bit saner and not evil just yet. _

_In front of Mad Hatter's house was a table set out under the large tree and the Marche Hare and the Hatter were already having tea at the table. Clean pale pink sheets with only light stains from tea were draped over the table while the chairs, with their soft pillows, looked rather fine to sit on as well. Dormouse was sitting between them, fast asleep while the other two were using him as a pillow, resting their elbows on him while trying to wake him up._

_"__Wake up, Dormy, it's time for the tea party," called the March Hare._

_"__But I'm tired…" sighed Dormy while pushing their arms of him as he sat up as straight as he could sit. _

_"__Here's a riddle, Alice, why is a raven like a writing desk?" asked the Mad Hatter, ignoring the fact Dormy almost pushed him of his chair. _

_"__I don't have the faintest clue," replied the younger Alice. _

"_Neither do I. Mad isn't it?" said Hatter_

_Moving over to the table, Alice grabbed a chair and sat down only to hear protests coming from the three other occupants crowded together at one corner of the table._

"_No room! No room!" All three cried out when the saw Alice sitting down on the opposite corner. _

"_There's plenty of room!" Alice said rather indignantly as she instead sat down on the large old wooden chair at one end of the table, sinking away into the soft and big pillows. _

"_Well then, have some tea then." the Marche Hare said._

_Dormy had fallen asleep again, Marche Hare tried to the Mad Hatter kept asking riddles and Alice tried to answer them as best as she could, and being only a young little child, she found that she was rather smart for she could answer most of the riddles Hatter asked her. After a while, another friend of her decided to visit the tea party. Actually in this case the friend suddenly appeared on top of Dormy out of thin air, waking the poor fellow up yet again after he had just fallen asleep again. _

"_You want some tea to Cheshire-puss?" Alice asked, ignoring the look she got from the then less mangy and thinly built cat._

_Outside her dream, Dinah came into her room and hopped onto the table next to Alice's bed and watched how Alice smiled in her dream. A sudden shadow drew Dinah's attention and she jumped from the bedside table, knocking over the small lamp placed on it. Not knowing what was going on, Alice continued to sleep as fire and smoke started to quickly spread through the house. Smoke seeped through the small opening in her door and the smell of fire and smoke reached her nose as she suddenly twitched in her sleep._

"_Fire! Fire!" shouted the Mad Hatter in alarm, as smoke suddenly surrounded the tea party, and Alice collapsed onto the ground._

"_Alice!" cried the Cheshire Cat, running to her. "Wake up, Alice! Wake up!"_

_Alice's eyes snapped open instantly when she heard Cheshire cry out to her, but the sound of her mother and father screaming drowned out his voice. The smoke filling her lungs made her cough as she sat up in bed quickly, gasping in horror at the smoke invading her room from the hallway. Sprinting out bed with her rabbit in had she ran from her room towards her door only to fall back at the heat coming from behind her bedroom door. The house creaked as fire ravaged it and started to break the house down. From the bedroom of Alice's parents came another scream. Running from her door towards her parent's bedroom door she found it to be locked._

"_Mother! Father!" screamed Alice as she grabbed the handle tightly._

"_Alice! Get out, dear!" shouted Alice's mother, coughing violently._

"_Save yourself!" cried Alice's father. The two were trapped in their bedroom._

_As her father and mother screamed at her to save herself, smoke slowly rose from beneath their bedroom door and Alice ran away crying. Flames erupted from the staircase and Alice found herself trapped upstairs. Then she remembered the way her sister always escaped from the house and also how Dinah often went outside through her window and how she then jumped down onto the ground down below. _

_Alice screamed in absolute horror as a piece of the ceiling fell down not far away from her and in her fear she instantly ran towards her window. Wrenching her window open the cool outside air mixed with some snow hit her her rabbit tight in hand, Alice propped herself up in the windowsill as she looked down in fear. It was a long way down, but the fear of fire and smoke behind her pushed her further away from the sill and into the open air. Cautiously she placed her feet on the pitched roof one by one, small step by small step. Her hand still gripping the sill tightly. Dinah had already jumped down and Alice saw her small footprints in the snow. Going a bit further Alice could now see the ground and she prepared herself to jump down. In that instant, her hand slipped from the windowsill and Alice's feet slipped in the snow and within seconds Alice found herself falling down towards the ground, knocking her out cold immediately._

Screams left Alice's lips as the pain and horror from that night filled her up entirely.

Her friends watched her, sorrow filling their eyes. None of them knew how to properly console their beloved Alice who had by now stopped screaming but instead curled up into a ball, sobbing silently.

"I could have saved them.."Alice cried. "I should have saved all of them instead of saving myself.. I killed all of them..!"

"You didn't kill them Alice, nor could you have saved them.." Cheshire said in a soft tone rather unlike him. "It is not your fault, you do remember your parents telling you to run don't you? If you would survive and live on in their stead it would give them peace."

"Peace..? Dying in a fire isn't peaceful! I still hear their screams of pain! I did it! I KILLED them!"

…


End file.
